Flintlock Gun
Steel-chiseler Louis Jaley French
Barrelsmith Nicolas Carteron French
Stock maker Joseph Blachon French
Known primarily as a producer of military weapons, the Royal Arms Manufactory at Saint-Etienne occasionally made luxury weapons, of which this is perhaps the finest example. Depictions of classical gods and goddesses are chiseled into the steel parts; and the left side of the butt is inlaid in silver with a scene of dogs attacking an imperial double-headed eagle, a reference to France's continual political and military struggle against the Holy Roman Empire.
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